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MALTESE YOUTHS OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA

ANZAC CENTENARY 1914-18 2014-18

Between 2014 and 2018 Australia and New Zealand commemorate the Anzac Centenary, marking 100 years since our nation’s involvement in the First World War. The Anzac Centenary is a milestone of special significance to all Australians. The First World War helped define us as a people and as a nation. During the Anzac Centenary we will remember not only the original Anzacs who served at Gallipoli and the Western Front, but commemorate more than a century of service by Australian servicemen and women. The Anzac Centenary Program encompasses all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations in which Australians have been involved. The Program aims to give all Australians the opportunity to honour the service and sacrifice of all those who have worn our nation’s uniform, including the more than 102,000 who have made the supreme sacrifice. It also aims to encourage all Australians to reflect upon and learn more about Australia’s military history, its costs and its impacts on our nation. The little island of Malta, just in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, played an important part during the first world war so much so that it earned the title of The Nurse of the Mediterranean. A strong bond exists between the three countries since then – Australia, New Zealand and Malta.

MOST COMMON MALTESE SURNAMES

The National Statistics Office yesterday released a breakdown of surnames recorded in the census. There were 19,104 surnames listed while a tenth of the population had Borg, Camilleri and Vella as their surname. The list of most common surnames was no different from the 2005 census with the top 10 having an identical rank order. There are almost 14,000 people with the surname Borg, which remains the most common. Almost a tenth of the Borgs live in Birkirkara. Camilleri comes in at second place with just over 13,000 people having the surname. The highest number of Camilleris live in Mosta. With more than 12,000 people, Vella is the third most common surname with Mellieħa having the highest number. The NSO figures showed a concentration of particular surnames in particular areas. Grech, Farrugia and Spiteri are most likely to be found in Żabbar, Żurrieq and Żejtun respectively. Interestingly, Mintoff ranks 144th at a national level but has the most common cluster in Għasri. Carabott is the third most common surname in Marsaxlokk but it places 94th nationwide. The NSO said such trends indicated that despite an increasingly mobile population, many surnames still had strong ties to specific localities.

AN ACT OF CHARITY
BY THE MALTESE IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA DURING WORLD WAR II

World War II hit Malta on 11 June 1940 and it may be safely said that the enemy hostilities lasted till the capitulation of Italy, which was officiallyannounced on 8 September 1943. Malta suffered heavy losses and many of its historical buildings and homes were destroyed. The Maltese people suffered moral and physical pain and hunger theyhad never experienced before. During a five-month period between December 1941and May 1942 more than 800 Maltese were killed and nearly one thousand severely injured in action. Four thousand buildings were reduced to rabble.

The Maltese Community of South Australia in 1942, although very small in numbers(only 20 families) did try to help alleviate the sufferings of their compatriots back home. They organised a special celebration to raise money to be sent to their relatives and friends in Malta. The organisers and participants as well as those who supported this function received well-deserved admiration from the rest of the South Australian community for their charitable and heroic gesture.

Information supplied by Rita Schembri and photo by (the late) Daniel Caruana

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MALTESE CULTURE AND HERITAGE

10 FACTS YOU PROBABLY DO NOT KNOW ABOUT MALTA

Malta was known as ‘Melita’ by theancient Greeks and Romans. This means ‘the island of honey’.

The Pharaoh Hound is the National Dog of Malta. In Maltese, the breed is knownas Kelb tal-Fenek

3. The University of Malta is the oldestuniversity in the Commonwealth outside of Great Britain.

Malta puts on 75 villages feasts to honour local patron saints between June and September. The feast, or festa in Maltese, is a fabulous event with fireworks, bands and a religious procession.

The Knights of St. John of Jerusalem were given control of Malta in 1530 by Charles V of Spain.

Grand Master, Jean Parisot de laValette, who gave Malta’s capital its name (Valletta) actually laid the firststone to the city in 1566.

The earliest evidence of humansettlement in Malta dates back over 7,400 years and the Megalithic temples are the oldest free-standing stone structures in the world.

8. The highest point on the island of Malta is at Ta’ Dmejrek, some 253 metres above sea level.

The dome of the Mosta Church, famously surviving a fallen bomb during WWII, is the third largest in Europe.

10. Maltese, or Malti, is an officially recognised EU language. Malta has been a Member State since 2004

MALTA

THE CHICKEN HAWKER

From a painting of Chev. Edw. Caruana Dingli (1876-1950)

He was born in Valletta, Malta of afamily of artists in 1876. In 1898, he was commissioned in the Royal Malta Artillery. He studied art under the celebrated Guze Cali (1846-1930) and at theBritish Academy in Rome, Italy. He excelled himself as a painter of Maltese landscape and folklore.